The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-08-24
VERDICT OF THE JURY.
The Toledo, Peoria and Western Compan
Exonerated,

The Toledo, Peoria and western Company
Exonerated,
CHATswoRTH, Ill, August 1S.-The co.,
oner's Jury agreed on verdict this morn
ing, which holds Timothy Coughl;n, fore
man of section Z, to the grand jury, and
negatively exonerates the Toledo, Peoria Il
Western Company. The management is
not censured for running double-header,
for lax system of track inspection, or for
anything else. The verdict simply says
the failure to patrol the track for six hours
before the train came, and the habit of
burning grass to the track, is the subject
for criticism. The three or four friends of
the road on the jury had better staying
Qualities than the two or three of those
Hho wanted to fix portion OF the blame
on the management
Timothy Coughlin, the section foreman,
was promptly arrested and will be taken
to Pontiac, the county seat of Livingstone
County at once. He says he cannot give
bail and will have to go to Jail. He insists
that the verdict is unjust; that he went
over his entire section as ordered, and that
no fires were built as near the bridge as
Heald and Taggert testified.
The Jury made out separate verdicts for
each of the victims. Mrs. DR.. buckets is
the first name of the list. The following
is the verdict of the jury on her death;
STATE OF ILLINOIS, LIVINGSTON COUNTY,
IS:
"In the matter of the inqusition of the
body of Mrs. DR.. Duckett, of Forest, ILL.,,
dectased, held at Chatsworth on the II tn
day Of August, A. D., 1887, we, the under
signed jurors, sworn to inqui into the
cause OF the death Of Mrs. Dr.. Duckett,
late of Forest, ILL.,, on oath do find that
she came to her death by injuries re-
ceiyed in the wrecking of the Niagara
Falls excursion train on the Toledo, Peoria
& Western Railway, on which she was a
passenger, at bridge two and one-half
miles east of Chatsworth, about z clock,
midnight, Wednesday August 10, 1887.
1--WE find that the wrecking of the said
train, which totally demolished eight
coaches, one baggage car and one engine,
and either killed or wounded most of the
occupants OF said coaches, was caused by
said bridge having been burned out be-
fore the train struck it. We think from
the evidence that the bridge was fred
from fires left burning, which had been
set rs late as o'clock that afternoon by
| the section men, as close as sixteen feet on
both the east aud west sides Of the bridge.
We further find that the foreman of Sec
ton 7, Timothy CoughIin, disobeyed posi-
| tive orders from his superior to examine
the track and bridges on hIs section the
| last thing on Wednesday, and we find that
he did not go over the west two and QUE
half miles at all on Wednesday, and that
the said foreman, Coughlin, was guilty OF
! gross and criminal carelessness in leaving
fires burning sl0ng the track in such dry
section and with such strong wind blow.
| ing.
I'VE recommend that he be held for ex-
animation by the grand jury, and further,
it is she opinion of the Jury that the leav-
1 ing of the track without being patrolled
for six bours before the passage Of the ex-
cursioD, and the setting of fires by the sec.
ton men on such dry and windy day as
the 10Th of August, were acts which deserve
severe criticism"